The American public views lawyers and the legal profession with skepticism, if not scorn. From observing high-profile ethical lapses to questioning seemingly mundane features of lawyer morality, skeptics of the profession are often left wondering whether lawyers have any core values or moral compass whatsoever. Since lawyers play an outsized role in public life, popular distrust of the profession has widespread and pernicious effects, contributing to a broader decline in social trust in institutions and the professionals who lead them. Increasing evidence also shows that lawyers are not a particularly happy population, with higher rates of depression, suicide, and substance abuse than other professionals.
It is in this context that in February 2022 the American Bar Association (“ABA”) amended Curriculum Standard 303(b) to require for the first time that law schools “provide substantial opportunities to students for . . . the development of a professional identity,” which the ABA’s interpretive guidance defines as the “values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.”
A healthy and well-developed professional identity enables a lawyer to navigate competing duties and demands; to develop the capacities of intellect and character to face professional pressures; and to find, as appropriate, opportunities to integrate personal values and professional aspirations. Professional identity formation is no easy task, though. Given the increasing diversity of the profession as well as trends toward specialization, it is reasonable to ask if it is possible to find, or to forge, consensus on substantive “values” or “guiding principles” that are “foundational to successful legal practice.”
Rapid advances in technology will almost certainly produce significant, if not radical, disruption in the legal profession, adding urgency to the work of clarifying the roles and values of lawyers. As more of the technical work of lawyering is taken on by machines and artificial intelligence, law schools and lawyers must be able to articulate a value proposition that elevates the human elements of lawyering. A character-based approach to professional identity formation is particularly well-suited to the demands of the present. By identifying and elevating virtues of particular relevance to lawyers—such as honesty, open-mindedness, civility, resilience, and wisdom—a character-based approach can help ensure that the practices and skills associated with these virtues are internalized and exhibited by lawyers consistently over time and even in the face of professional pressures.
